Alexander the Great

CountryEgypt

Town:Alexandria

Year of creation:2002

Rider(s):Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedonia (356 –323 BC) succeeded his father as King of Macedonia in 336 BC, inheriting a strong kingdom and an experienced army. In 334 BC he began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years, conquering the entirety of the Persian Empire. Seeking to reach the “ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea”, he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart. Alexander’s legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. The settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. Undefeated in battle he is considered one of history’s most successful commanders.